In Harm's Way
by Jersey13
Summary: Sheppard's team tries to help some injured villagers but is captured by an old enemy who wants information. Can Dr. McKay hold out under the threat of torture? No Slash, no shipping. mild violence, minor character death, spoilers for 'Common Ground'
1. Prologue

Jehk Crola stood still on the dirt mound. He stared down at the ground at his feet, glancing now and then at the head of the shovel he was holding. He hated that shovel with a passion. Every time Jehk held it in his hand, he wanted to swing it at the head of the nearest victim of his wrath. They would have rightfully deserved it for all the times they forced him to suffer, for having to pick up that shovel and thrust it into the rocky soil time and time again.

As the rage flared up within him once again, sweat poured from his brow. Not only did he have to constantly suffer the indignation of being forced into the profession of a lowly farmer, but it was also hot. The soil on his own world had been dry since the month before, when what little he saw of the monsoon rains had failed his own people for the second year in a row. Jehk hated worrying about the weather. He hated being forced to dig rocks out of the farmers' lands. Such things were beneath him. Jehk hated the noises of war and the smells of blood and death that seemed to still waft all around him from days ago. The smells of what remained of the battle tempted him terribly with the prospect of becoming a soldier again, but he had already decided to bide his time and wait for the right moment.

He picked up the shovel once more and attempted to call up from within him a show of feigned indifference. He was determined not give the men guarding him and the other prisoners of war around him the satisfaction of knowing they had made him suffer.

The sound of what suddenly reminded him of a waterfall filled the dusty plains around him. Jehk and the other prisoners looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the sound. In the distance he saw frightened villagers running from a stand of trees, behind which he knew the Ancestral Ring of the Ancients was located. In an instant he understood its significance: another attack on the village nearby was imminent. He would soon have his freedom!

In an inspired rage, Jehk heaved his shovel at the nearest guard, knocking him out cold. Before the others farther toward the edge of the field could catch him, he promptly tackled the guard on the edge closer to the Ancestral Ring and ran past him, eager to rejoin his comrades.

As he ran along the path toward the trees and the Ring, the sound suddenly disappeared. It had only been a few seconds, but Jehk knew that the Ring had closed. He could only fathom that perhaps his people had sent only a small party to rescue him, but as he approached the Ring, he saw strangers.

Jehk stopped in his tracks and stared. Those strangers were certainly not his people. The guards that he had left in his dust were about to catch up to him, but he was determined to not let this opportunity to escape go to waste. Jehk ignored the strangers and pressed a sequence of symbols on the dialing device connected to the Ring. Before the guards could tackle him, he promptly ran through the Ancestral Ring to meet his destiny on his homeworld.

But as he appeared on the other side, he expected to be greeted as a hero by flocks of reverent villagers. He instead witnessed something he had never expected to see. With a sinking feeling in his gut that he had never felt before, he forced himself to walk through the burnt grass, then the burnt wood structures and the broken mud-brick homes that were once the homes of the people in his village, searching for a sign of life that would allow him to deny what he already suspected had happened. But there were no sounds save for the occasional crackle of burning wood.

Jehk dropped to his knees and wept. These people had been his friends, his family. The shriveled, dry corpses of a few of his fellow soldiers littered the ground not far from the Sacred Dome, where they had obviously died defending the people who would have taken shelter there. He was sure that the people that would have hovelled there during the attack had begged the Gods for forgiveness and mercy, but to no avail.

The Wraith had fed upon his fellow soldiers, who had bravely died in a vain effort to save rest of his village from becoming fodder for the invaders. They hadn't even died with the respect and honor accorded to one who dies in the line of duty defending his noble village from their true enemies, enemies like the villagers that had captured him. His friends and comrades had died for no other reason than to be consumed thoughtlessly by demons.

Rage began welling within him. Tears burned his eyes and blurred his vision to the point where he lost track of time completely. Even hours later, or perhaps it had been days later, he could still not see clearly enough to notice through his grief that another group of people had also traveled through the Ancestral Ring, only to find the same unexpected scene that he had encountered.

A comforting hand appeared on his shoulder, startling him. He jumped up in alarm to find a group of eight people armed with weapons he didn't understand surrounding him.

"It's all right," the man who appeared to be the leader spoke, trying to offer him some comfort. "We're not here to hurt you. What happened to these people?"

"It could only have been the Wraith," Jehk replied, numbly.

"My name is Acastus Kolya. I am a Commander of the Genii, and want to make you an offer."

Jehk looked up at him, confused. "What kind of offer?"

Kolya took a knee next to Jehk's prostrate form. "Your name is Jehk Crola, is it not? With your help we can destroy our enemies, including the Wraith. If you tell me what you saw, our weapons can help you make them pay dearly for what they've done."

Jehk eyed him suspiciously, not sure what to make of Kolya's offer. Kolya drew a folder sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it for Jehk to see.

"I have come across some reports that you were captured by the village of Tressada. I have also heard reports that strangers have been seen there. Did you see this man when you were there?"

Kolya held up the sheet of paper and Jehk could see what he recognized as the expert markings of an artist drawn upon it. Upon the paper was drawn an expertly rendered image of a man's face. In fact, it was the same face as one of the strangely-  
dressed strangers he had seen traveling through the Ancestral Ring just before his escape.

Kolya smiled as he saw the telltale signs of recognition appear on Jehk's face. His look confirmed the reports, that he had indeed seen Colonel John Sheppard in that village. 


	2. Chapter 1

Colonel John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, and Ronon Dex stepped through the event horizon of the Stargate. Sheppard in particular found the sight of the clearing in which they now stood eerily foreboding, even despite the sunlight streaming through the trees and the birds chirping around them. It for some reason gave him a very bad feeling, which wasn't a feeling he experienced very often. He had felt rather upbeat most of the day, but now that they were on this world, he felt like the world itself didn't want to be disturbed.

He chided himself inwardly for the idly assuming the inhabitants wouldn't be friendly before he actually met them. That's how teams sometimes get into unnecessary firefights, and he really wasn't looking forward to having one today.

McKay was the first to speak up. "I don't like it. It's too quiet."

"It's always too quiet," Sheppard replied, deciding not to attempt to ponder on it longer. He silently began walking a well-trodden path that led out past the edge of the forest into a field of dry grasses. Ronon, Teyla, and Rodney followed close behind. The sounds around them seemed hushed and quiet as they continued following the path, where it eventually ended at the wooden walls of a fortified village of spartan mud brick huts.

Sheppard was going to knock on what appeared to be a large gate at an entrance through the walled perimeter when he heard faint grunts, pained cries, and clashing metal from whom he could only assume were the people that lived inside.

The gate was obviously moved by some kind of counterweight system and was far too heavy for the four of them to lift, but there was a small gap between the edge of the walls and the edge of the gate. Sheppard placed a small package of C4 explosive into the gap and set the timer for five seconds.

"Take cover!" he yelled as he dove behind a stack of logs not too far away. The explosive charge detonated with a resounding loud crack of wood splitting.

Sheppard's team ran inside the village, but saw no one at first. As they walked farther into the center of the village, the sounds of swords clashing and flesh being slashed to ribbons violated their senses.

The walls on the far side of the village were smashed. Homes were burning and running villagers were being cut down one by one. They saw armored soldiers, several of which appeared to be riding something similar to a horse, who were in the middle of the fray at with their lances and swords drawn. Some of the villagers had swords also, others had sharp pitchforks and knives, but they were all severely outclassed by the dozen or so armored and well-armed soldiers advancing on them further.

A man toward the rear of the group, apparently the leader, began to speak. "You are now prisoners of the Genii and Lohken Alliance. Present to us the leader of this village for punishment, and the rest of your lives will be spared."

At first, none of the villagers moved. A man toward the right side of the group of villagers glanced off to his left and suddenly spied Sheppard and his team watching near the huts.

"Please, help us!" the man cried out.

Sheppard sighed and stepped out into the street, weapon drawn. Ronon, Teyla, and Rodney followed suit. "Nobody move!"

The soldiers' leader swung around to see who had spoken and frowned with annoyance. "You three, kill them."

The three soldiers on the horse-like mounts broke off their affront on the villagers and went into a full gallop, their lances aimed at the team's hearts.

"Teyla," said Sheppard, "Do you know who these 'Lohken' guys are"

"No, they are not people known to the Athosians," she replied.

"Ronon, would you mind?" He glanced over at Ronon, who snickered and fired his weapon, stunning all three riders in a matter of seconds. They fell off their 'horses' onto the ground. The subtle display of force panicked the remaining soldiers and, despite the furious cries of their leader, they began running for their lives back to the Stargate. A few moments later, their former leader was the only one of them left to menace the villagers.

"I assure you we will return, and we will kill you for your interference!" he snarled, and then he too disappeared down the path that led toward the Stargate.

Sheppard watched them leave, then spoke to the villagers. "Don't worry, folks," he assured them. "It doesn't look like they're going to bother us again for a little while."

"McKay, Ronon, make sure that they've really gone, then dial Atlantis and tell them to send Carson. Obviously we have wounded here. Teyla, let's see if we can help patch some of these people up."

----- A FEW MINUTES LATER -----

Dr. Carson Beckett stepped through the Stargate, arriving just a few minutes after he was called, carrying a packed medical kit on his back that looked fairly heavy. McKay sighed heavily when two boxes full of medical supplies were pushed through the Stargate after Beckett.

"How the hell did you convince Sheppard to make me carry all these boxes? I have a very sensitive back, and if I end up throwing it out carrying all your junk, it'll be your fault."

"Stop complaining, Rodney," Carson said unsympathetically in his Scottish brogue as they walked the path back to the village together. "We're bringing all these medical supplies for the villagers, not for me."

"I'll have you know that…" Rodney was suddenly cut off by the sound of the Stargate being activated. McKay and Beckett spun around in surprise.

"Who do you think that could that be?" Carson said nervously.

Soldiers in Genii uniforms began exiting the event horizon two at a time. A dozen of them poured out of the event horizon of the Stargate until the final two soldiers appeared. The leader of this group was the last to arrive: Acastus Kolya.

"Uh oh... Run!" Rodney yelped, and Carson didn't argue. They both dropped the supplies they were carrying and ran as fast as they could, crashing through the woods between the Stargate and the village.

"Stun them," ordered Kolya neutrally.

Kolya's soldiers lifted their stolen Wraith stunners and fired. Most of Kolya's hand-picked soldiers almost never missed their marks, but all were professional soldiers. Both Beckett and McKay slumped to the ground, unconscious.

----- A FEW MORE MINUTES LATER -----

Colonel Sheppard was almost finished helping a dirt-covered village woman wrap a bandage, the last one in his emergency first aid kit, around a laceration on her wrist. He saw Teyla near another villager in the periphery of his vision helping another village man, also nearing the end of her kit.

"Where the hell is Beckett?" Sheppard muttered to himself. "He and McKay should've been back by now."

The audible 'click' of a gun being loaded sounded suddenly behind him. Sheppard spun around to face the maker of the sound, his P90 ready. He realized too late that his attention had wandered as he had patched up the injured woman. He watched with a growing sense of unease as Acastus Kolya, a man he knew quite well, climbed the slight hill in the path and walked into view. Within seconds, a dozen or so Genii soldiers armed with wraith stunners and various firearms had surrounded him and Teyla.

"Drop your weapons," Kolya demanded. "You're outnumbered four to one, and I would have no compunction in ordering my men to use deadly force, if necessary."

"I can still kill you before they kill me," Sheppard said angrily, his voice almost a whisper.

"But then the rest of your group will never find out what I've done with Dr. McKay and his friend," Kolya remarked pointedly. "Drop your weapons."

Teyla looked to Sheppard expectantly. When Sheppard didn't immediately comply, Kolya took a step closer. He added, "You think your other friend will save you? I think not."

Kolya turned his head to the side and shouted, "Crola!" A moment later Sheppard heard a stunner blast that came from somewhere out of sight, followed by dull thump. Their hearts sank when they then saw Ronon being dragged into view from around the side of a hut.

Kolya stepped aside to speak to the man who had stunned Ronon. "Good work, Crola. You may rejoin Mar'Ragan's group at your leisure. Tell him he won't have trouble in Tressada any longer. You may take with you as many crates of our weapons as you feel you and your friends may need."

"He… He is still alive?" he asked, excited and surprised to hear that any of the other squads of soldiers from his planet had survived. "Thank you, sir! You will not regret our Alliance! Together, we will make our enemies pay."

Kolya simply nodded, and Crola rushed ahead to the Stargate to rejoin his comrades in battle. Kolya watched him go, certain that Jehk Crola would get himself killed sooner rather than later, but that was fine. He had served his purpose, and becoming a martyr to his people only strengthened Kolya's position.

The topic of discussion was switched back to Sheppard. "I did notice you had a new friend, Sheppard. And perhaps you've noticed that I have some new friends now as well. A shortsighted person might consider them primitive, but they are extremely good at what they do. Now, don't make me repeat myself again."

Sheppard's fingers itched. There was nothing he wanted more than to wipe that confident smirk off Kolya's face with his P90, but now with Ronon out of commission, the odds were not good that rest of his team would survive such an encounter. His fear of being captured and tortured again at the hands of Kolya made Sheppard's heart race, but he determinedly buried his feelings in layers of rigid Air Force training. He slowly began slipping his weapon's strap off his shoulders, and Teyla also reluctantly lowered her weapon. Kolya's soldiers promptly took their weapons and radios then bound their hands behind their backs before starting the march back to the Stargate.

Kolya relished in the panicked nervousness he could sense emanating from Sheppard, who was trying valiantly to hide it, but failing miserably. He almost wanted to reassure Sheppard that there weren't going to Wraith waiting to feed on him where they were going this time, but he thought it would be better for him to sweat it out a bit. It served him right for ruining his perfect plan to grab power, when trying to trade him for the Genii leader Ladon Radim had failed. Of course he had to give Dr. Wier, their leader still in the city of Atlantis, some respect in that regard. Like any good leader would, she didn't give in to his demands to send Ladon, even after watching him allow a Wraith to feed upon Sheppard on a video feed.

But the past no longer mattered. Kolya was determined to make sure that this time around he would finally have his chance to take power from Ladon once and for all, to become the leader of the Genii people. If Sheppard and his team survived what he had planned for them he would be quite surprised. So long as his new friends could deliver the information he needed from McKay about their 'ZPM' devices, they could be considered expendable.

Kolya dialed the Stargate and opened a gateway to a world only he alone knew the address to. There would be no middle men present to make his plan fail this time. He shoved Sheppard, Teyla, and the unconscious form of Ronon through the event horizon.

Sheppard wasn't surprised to see the stark, plain gray walls typical of the inside of Genii buildings. A single door was the only exit from the room, but he was not offered the chance to see what was on the other side. Kolya grabbed the nearest soldier's stunner and stunned them both into unconsciousness before he could even protest. 


	3. Chapter 2

McKay rolled over onto his side, vaguely aware in his current state of half-wakefulness that the bed he was laying on wasn't very soft, and that his head was laying at an odd angle. He must have accidentally knocked his pillow away, again. McKay slowly moved his hands around the general area of his head, feeling for it.

As his hand moved across the cold, smooth surface he was laying on, it occurred to McKay that he must have fallen onto the floor without realizing it. He rolled over onto his back and reached out towards where he figured the edge of his bed was, but felt nothing except cold concrete. Vaguely aware of a hand reaching across his chest to touch his neck near one of his carotid arteries, McKay assured himself that whatever he was doing before he fell asleep couldn't have been all that unpleasant. But how did he end up on the floor? He suddenly realized that the hand touching his neck belonged to Carson.

McKay bolted upright in an instant. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I was making sure you weren't dead," Beckett assured him. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm sure this pounding headache will go away eventually." He uneasily got to his feet and examined their prison cell. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Carson replied, still sitting on the floor. "The last thing I remember was trying to make a run for it back to the village."

McKay chose not to deepen his discomfort by continuing the conversation further. The room was small enough to make him claustrophobic as it was, and he really didn't want the extra stress. He examined what little he could of the lock on the door, which was carefully constructed so that it couldn't be picked, and couldn't even be unlocked from the inside.

He sat heavily onto a chair that more closely resembled a stool in the corner of the plain, gray-walled room. McKay was beginning to recall the last few terrifying moments on the planet before he was stunned and was unsure that it would be the last terrifying moment of the day.

The clicking sound of the door being unlocked resounded through the bare cell. McKay sighed inwardly when four hefty Genii began practically dragging them through the hallways outside the cell. They seemed to leave an endless labyrinth of hallways that apparently made up the prison block of the complex they had been taken to and were brought into another endless labyrinth of hallways that seemed to be organized into sections of labs, offices, and rooms full of filing cabinets. Ahead was one particularly plain door with no markings that seemed to be their destination.

Upon entering the plain windowless room, McKay and Beckett were sat forcefully into sturdy wooden chairs facing a small desk, behind which sat a young woman. She wore her Genii uniform well, but she was somewhat overweight and wore a thick set of spectacles, which seemed oddly out of place in the military environment of the Genii. Her dark gaze shifted from the pad of paper she was writing on to McKay. It made him feel strangely uncomfortable, as if she could see right through him.

"I am the Record Keeper," she spoke slowly and carefully. "Do you know why we are here today?"

"No," McKay admitted truthfully.

"You're here because you have information that Commander Kolya wants. I am here because I am probably the only person here who may be able to convince you to give me that information."

"What makes you think you can do that?" McKay blurted doubtingly.

She offered a slight smile. "Commander Kolya said he told you about my people. We are the Lokhen, and we are very good at what we do. We may not be as skilled with weapons and technology as your own people or even the Genii, but we are experts of metals, herbs, alchemy, and poisons. My father was one of the most sought-after interrogators in the galaxy until he was murdered by the Wraith during the culling of another village. I try to live up to his reputation when I can."

She watched McKay shift uncomfortably in his chair, then continued. "I want to offer you the chance to simply answer my questions before I resort to methods of information extraction that you may find unpleasant."

McKay silently stared at his hands as his fingers twitched nervously. He wondered why all her questions were directed at him while there were none asked to Carson, but he gave her no response.

The Record Keeper opened a drawer on the left side of her desk. McKay and Beckett watched intently as she placed a vial and syringe in plain view. She filled the syringe with the contents of the vial.

She moved to Beckett's side and signaled the guards, who immediately began strapping his arms to the armrests of the chair. "Are you sure you don't even want to know what questions I intend to ask?"

McKay swiveled in his chair as the two other guards held him back. "What the hell are you doing to him? You said I was the one who had the information you wanted!"

"That's right," she stated calmly. "Torture and drugs have never been a very reliable means of obtaining information. But since Commander Kolya was able to provide me with some of your friends as well, people I'm sure you care about very much, I now have a much more effective means of convincing you to give me what I want."

He sat back in the chair and looked away, unwilling to give in to her demands. She didn't expect that he would give in easily. Beckett struggled bravely, but ultimately the Genii guards holding him down managed to keep him still enough for the task of injection. Once complete, the Record Keeper returned to the chair behind the desk and the guards returned to their posts at the door.

"The poison that your friend has been subjected to is a very special formula that I developed myself." She explained carefully. "It affects very specific parts of the brain and nervous system and is quite persistent in the body. One dose probably won't do more than give him a bad headache, but two doses usually result in the onset of hallucinations. After three doses your friend will experience full-scale paranoid delusions. Four doses usually causes psychotic behavior, and he may even try to kill you. Five doses will kill him."

She inserted a dramatic pause before her last statements. "You have until this time tomorrow to reconsider. If you tell me what I want to know, I'll give your friend a counter-agent that will neutralize the poison."

With that said, the she motioned for the guards to take them back to their cell. Once there, Rodney found the cleanest corner of the cell and succumbed to his sudden need to lie down. Unable to face his friend, he faced the wall with his back to Carson and fell into a state of restless sleep. 


	4. Chapter 3

When McKay woke, he was drenched in a cold sweat. After reassuring himself that there was no reason he should be worried about being chased through the hallways by the werewolf-like creature he had seen in his dreams, who strangely enough had somewhat resembled Carson Beckett, he stole a peek over his shoulder at Carson. He had apparently been leaning against the wall before he had slumped over and fallen asleep.

The slow, steady rhythm of each of Carson's breaths assured McKay that he wasn't dead yet, but Rodney felt some relief at not having to deal with his guilt over the situation yet. He was sure Carson would have something supportive or motivating to say, but he really didn't want to hear it. It was difficult enough to actually admit to someone as annoyingly likable as Carson that he cared whether or not the man lived or died, but he was certain that "The Record Keeper" would put him in that situation tomorrow anyway, whether he liked it or not. He would be forced to decide whether or not he valued Carson's life enough to protect whatever secrets she wanted from him.

McKay flinched. Forced to decide… Even now without realizing it, he saw that he was already subconsciously considering telling the Record Keeper what she wanted to know. He was doing exactly what she wanted, and she certainly knew exactly what she was doing. He tried to look at his watch, forgetting momentarily that it had been confiscated. McKay sighed again. He didn't even know what time it was, or even how much time there was left before the she would have them dragged back into that room.

A faint click outside the door pulled him out of his reverie. A few moments later, he thought he could hear the muffled struggling of someone else being dragged from another cell in the same block. The sudden clang of a metal door being slammed echoed in the hallway gave Rodney a ray of hope that a breakout might be occurring outside, but that ray of hope was quickly smothered by the sound of a half dozen wraith stunner blasts. The thump of a body on concrete followed soon after.

He figured it was probably Sheppard, who could have even been dragged off for his own interrogation. McKay glanced back over towards the other corner and praised the Genii for at least being stupid enough to place the others of his team in the same cell block, but unfortunately for him, the escape had been loud enough to wake Carson. He was sitting with his back propped up against the wall again, staring straight at him. Rodney looked away back towards the door, still unable to meet his eyes.

"You've been unusually quiet since yesterday," Carson commented quietly. He noted that Rodney apparently wasn't going to allow himself to be goaded into an unwanted conversation, but continued unabatedly. "So, what do you plan to do when they come back for us?"

"Does there have to be a plan?" McKay was starting to become annoyed.

"Let me rephrase that." Carson wasn't going to allow him to shirk the issue at hand. "Do you intend to tell her what she wants to know?"

McKay stifled his rising temper, but didn't immediately answer him. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know what I should do."

"Rodney, if I have to die a horrible and painful death, I want it to be worth something."

McKay wanted to tell him to shut the hell up. Obviously Carson was starting to feel the weight of his possible impending doom and to Rodney it seemed like a pitiful attempt to look brave. "Well, what the hell do you want me to do? It's your life on the line here, not mine. I don't even know what kind information she wants from me."

"You can't tell her anything, and you know that." Carson wanted to make sure Rodney's priorities were clear. "If you give in, you'll only make all my suffering meaningless."

"Oh, come on!" McKay wasn't giving in. "I wouldn't call a headache 'suffering.' We're going to get rescued, and we're going to get out of this. It's only a matter of time."

The click of the lock interrupted their argument. Rodney sighed again. He really hoped that the rescue he predicted would be coming sooner rather than later. 


	5. Chapter 4

As McKay and Beckett were again sat forcefully into the heavy wood chairs in front of the small desk, Rodney still hadn't really decided what course of action he should take. The Record Keeper studied him carefully, her piercing eyes seeming to read every thought. A moment later, she reached into the same drawer she had reached into yesterday, producing a syringe and this time two vials instead of one.

"Let's get right to the point," she said as she leaned back in her chair. "I have two vials. One of them contains the poison and the other contains a counter-agent. The contents of which vial I inject into your friend is completely up to you."

Rodney looked away, down at his hands again, trying not to appear nervous. He blotted out the image of Carson Beckett in his mind, willing himself to remember Carson's words from their conversation just a few minutes ago.

"I have only a few questions today. If you answer them honestly, your friend will get the counter-agent instead of the poison today." She picked up her notepad and pen, and then asked her first question. "What is your name?"

McKay looked up, stunned by the simplicity of the question. He briefly considered answering it, but then he remembered Carson telling me that if he said anything, it would make his suffering meaningless. "What is the point in asking me any questions at all? Kolya is going to kill us anyway."

"One thing I made clear to Commander Kolya upon agreeing to perform this service for him is that you are not considered his prisoners any more. You are my prisoners." Her perspective was quite harsh. "I think you are underestimating how valuable the information you possess is to me. And perhaps I have not made it clear that your friends are considered expendable. They are a security risk and a liability so long as they are kept alive, and the only reason I have been keeping them alive despite this fact is to give you the opportunity to make an arrangement with me in exchange for their safety."

He couldn't argue with her logic. Considering how tough to handle Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, and even Beckett could be sometimes, it did make sense that they should have been disposed of before they became a problem. McKay wanted so desperately to be able to be the hero of the hour, to be the one that once again miraculously conjures a solution to all their problems, but not a single idea managed to form inside his head. Simply not opening his mouth might had never been so difficult for him, and watching Carson die a slow and horrible death wasn't something Rodney was sure he could live with. But Carson had put his faith in McKay, and Carson's life was in his hands. He had to stall and hold out until Dr. Wier and Dr. Zelenka in Atlantis could mount a rescue. If anybody could do it, they could. Carson would just have to deal with it until then.

The Record Keeper watched carefully as all of these thoughts ran through McKay's mind. He remained silent and motionless. Without even having to ask she knew what his decision was. She filled the syringe with the poison. The Genii guards again strapped Beckett's arms down to the armrests of the chair and held him still while she performed the task of injection. Rodney couldn't watch.

With a motion of her hand as she sat back into her chair, the guards picked them up and dragged them back to their cell. Upon being tossed inside, McKay noted that Beckett didn't immediately get up.

He hesitantly went to Carson's side and helped him up into a sitting position. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Beckett lifted his head a bit to look at him. "Some Dramamine would be nice right about now."

"Dramamine?" McKay repeated. "What is it, a medication?"

"The room is spinning," Carson explained irritably, his words slurring together. "It's an over-the-counter medication for vertigo and nausea."

"Gee, Carson, if I had only remembered to bring more cash with me, I could have stopped at the pharmacy to pick some up for you on our way back to this damned cell!"

"For God's sake, Rodney, calm down. You're making my head hurt worse." Carson took a deep breath. "The last thing I want is for you to start panicking because of me."

He was callously writing himself off as a liability or a burden, but Rodney couldn't help but admire Carson's selflessness. He sat down next to Carson and decided to just shut up rather than provoke him. He needed sleep, not to mention some time to think about things. 


	6. Chapter 5

It had been another night of restless sleep and back pain for Rodney. As he woke up and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes, he was surprised to find that Carson was already awake. He stared in confusion for a moment until he could figure out why the scene suddenly seemed disturbing; Carson's skin was deathly pale and coated with a shiny film of sweat. His arms were folded over his chest as if he was cold.

"Did you get enough sleep?" McKay asked neutrally.

Carson's gaze was fixated on a particular point on the wall near the door and didn't bother to answer. McKay was tempted to ask him how he was doing or what he was looking at, but the question probably would have only have served to aggravate him. He tried to eat the meager meal that the guards brought as their breakfast, the same thing they brought for every meal in fact, but he was too upset with the whole situation to eat much.

"You have no idea what this is like," Carson said finally.

McKay's appetite was gone instantly. Apparently the Record Keeper's predictions were coming true. Carson was really starting to creep him out. "So, what is it like then?"

"My vision is blurred." Beckett was trying to speak rationally, but his words sounded more like pained gasps. "I'm hearing things that I suspect are auditory hallucinations, things like the lock on the door being turned. I can't tell if it's real or not, and I'm terrified that any moment now, guards will burst through that door and drag me back to that office."

Rodney had no real idea what time it was, but breakfast hadn't tasted like it had been placed in their cell too long ago. He suspected it would still be a few hours before they came, but he was sure that the guards would indeed be returning for them in the near future. He honestly wished he could have told Carson that he had nothing to worry about. McKay was instead forced to sit and watch Beckett's mind breaking into pieces.

----- SOME UNKNOWN NUMBER OF HOURS LATER -----

McKay tried not to look at the unconscious form of Beckett in the chair next to his. He had been stunned by the guards because his terror had made him difficult to drag into the now-familiar office that belonged to the Record Keeper. She showed no concern for him at all, but picked up a miniature flashlight and examined his eyes.

"I would say that your friend is less resistant to the poison than I had originally estimated," she explained matter-of-factly to McKay as she finished measuring Carson's pupillary response to the light from her flashlight. "Today's injection may or may not kill him, but I am now fairly certain that he will die from it tomorrow if you don't cooperate."

He couldn't stand it any more. There was no way he could just watch him die. Rodney began to tremble. It was the sign the Record Keeper had been waiting for to ask her questions.

She paused dramatically for a moment to let the situation sink in. "I know you don't want to see your friend suffer. Just tell me what your names are, and today I'll give him some of the counter-agent. Is it really such a secretive and difficult question to answer?"

McKay thought about it for a moment. He began to consider that it wasn't really worth the suffering to not answer such a simple question… If he told her his name, it might buy the others in Atlantis enough time to rescue them. He was not prepared to risk Carson's life for just their names, and so he made the decision.

"My name is Dr. Rodney McKay," he said softly. "Dr. Carson Beckett is sitting next to me."

The Record Keeper produced the second vial of clearer liquid and a syringe from the drawer without looking away from him. "This counter-agent will temporarily neutralize the symptoms, but it won't cure him. Regular doses of the counter-agent over a period of time are required to do that. So long as you remain cooperative, Dr. Beckett will continue to receive them."

Without another word, she injected Beckett with the counter-agent and once again signaled the guards to return them to their cell. 


	7. Chapter 6

Ever since becoming one of the few remaining survivors of her world after it was culled by the Wraith, Mar'Ragan had decided that she was valuable enough to make a Lieutenant in his new order. But she absolutely hated bureaucracy. It was bad enough that the leaders of the new alliance between the Genii and the Lokhen had made her solely responsible extracting the information necessary to rebuild their civilizations. Apparently this device that the Genii had stolen from some other hapless village, something called a ZPM, had the potential for great power.

Kolya certainly longed for its power, and upon being asked to perform her duty by interrogating people that she didn't even know she immediately suspected that she was being used. What use would Kolya have for her, or any of her people for that matter, once he knew the secrets of this ZPM?

The Record Keeper tried to wish away the rather large pile of reports she was asked to read sitting on the corner of her desk, to no avail. Yet again another reason she hated bureaucracy. There were always new reports or news items that needed to be read. Sometimes she wished she could go back to the responsibilities being a simple interrogator, but Mar'Ragan needed her too badly. Even with only a few hundred Lokhen left, the responsibility needed to lead their people back to greatness was in demand. And so, Mar'Ragan and Jehk Crola had at least felt that her sense of honor and professionalism would be useful to them in that regard.

She may wish that it was not her responsibility to usher her people back to the ways of honorable warfare, conquest, and sublimation, but by her honor she would perform her duty to her people in any and every way she was capable. She owed that much to Jehk Crola, who had been her father's best friend. Providence spared him from that his imprisonment by the Tressadans for a reason and she was prepared to follow him anywhere, even if she had to use her interrogation skills against aliens to do it.

The aliens were the least of her worries, though. Kolya had given Mar'Ragan and Crola everything they wanted without even questioning why. The Record Keeper had always suspected that he was up to something, but there wasn't quite enough information to predict his plan. She would have to watch him very carefully, that much was sure.

Reluctantly, the Record Keeper picked up the pile of papers and began sorting them in chronological order to read. Once finished, she would have time to further plan out a strategy to break Dr. McKay. Once she had the information that Kolya wanted, perhaps his intentions would be easier to interpret.

----- ELSEWHERE IN THE COMPLEX -----

McKay was pacing around the cell like a caged animal when Carson Beckett started to regain consciousness. Pushing himself to his knees, Carson started feeling like something was wrong and was trying to figure out what it was when McKay noticed he was awake.

"I was worried about you," McKay croaked as he stopped and sat down. "I was afraid that she had poisoned you again."

Carson suddenly realized what was wrong: he wasn't in pain any more. Even his headache was gone. A look of horror washed over his face as he spoke to Rodney. "You told her what she wanted, didn't you."

Rodney felt a stab of guilt. "All she wanted to know was our names. I may have saved your life, you know!"

"That's exactly what she wanted you to think, Rodney." Carson was trying to get him to listen to reason. "The safety of Atlantis is more important than I am. If our positions had been reversed, I would have let you die."

McKay was shocked into silence by the admonishment, but Carson needed to know more. "Is that all you said to her? Is that all she wanted?"

"Yes," Rodney replied. It was all he could say.

"I'm sorry, Rodney. I don't mean to be harsh." Carson felt bad for Rodney, and if their positions really had been reversed, he wasn't so sure he could have neglected Rodney's suffering, either. "When I was younger, my older brothers were constantly goading me into doing mischievous things. I was always taking responsibility for everything, including some things they even did without me.

"But I always did what was expected of me," Carson continued, "and I always came forward and took responsibility for everything I did. Whether you want it or not, Rodney, you are now responsible for the safety of Atlantis. You must do the right thing for the sake of the people in Atlantis, our home, and if it means that I have to be sacrificed for their safety, so be it." 


	8. Chapter 7

McKay sighed inwardly to himself once again. He was really starting to get tired of all of this. The Record Keeper was simply staring at him expectantly without saying a word. It made him feel like he wanted to fidget, but he controlled himself as best he could.

"McKay…" She spoke finally. "That isn't a name I've ever heard before. Is your surname uncommon among your people as well?"

Rodney thought about simply ignoring the question, but rather than anger her he resigned himself to answer the harmless questions. Carson would just have to trust his judgment. "I wouldn't say uncommon."

She paused for a moment to think, and then abruptly changed the subject. "There is just one piece of information I want today," she said as he looked at her expectantly. "I want you to tell me your shield deactivation code."

"Not going to happen," he stated nonchalantly.

"Dr. McKay, your friends in Atlantis already know that you are in our custody." She spoke carefully and thoughtfully. "If I were in their position, your codes would probably have already been changed. Even so, do you really think they would allow us to send in a strike team without having at least heard a vocal confirmation of your identity using your communications device?"

"No, I don't think they would," he admitted. "What could you possibly want my codes for if you really think they're useless?"

"I want your codes simply because you don't want to give them to me." She handed him a sheet of paper. "That is an intelligence report given to me by the Genii. It should be proof enough for you that your friends indeed know that you're missing. In fact, they were spotted on this world looking for you."

McKay looked up from the sheet of paper in surprise but said nothing. Carson had seen the contents of the report, and although his headache had returned in full force, he decided to speak up instead. "It's rubbish! Don't let her fool you with this trick, Rodney."

With a quick motion of the Record Keeper's hand, the guards stunned him. "As far as I'm concerned, Dr. Beckett isn't a part of this conversation."

Rodney put the sheet of paper back down on her desk as Carson's words of support echoed in his mind. "I'm not giving you my codes."

"Then you leave me with no recourse." Rodney watched in horror as she injected an unconscious Carson Beckett with yet another dose of poison, then returned to her chair. "When he wakes, the delusions he experienced before will become overpowering. You may want to consider keeping him awake tonight. If he falls asleep, he may die."

Suddenly, an unkempt and disheveled young man dressed in a crimson tabard decorated with the gold emblem of the Lokhen rushed into the room. "I'm sorry, Ma'am! I have an urgent message."

He rushed forward and whispered his message into the Record Keeper's ear. Rodney couldn't hear what he was saying, but he could have sworn that for just a moment, she actually looked somewhat distressed.

She rose from her seat and hurriedly rushed to the door with the messenger in tow behind her. "Take them back to their cell," she ordered and then rushed down the hallway, leaving Rodney very curious and concerned.

----- A FEW MINUTES LATER -----

"Kolya!" the Record Keeper shouted as she rounded the corner to his office, the messenger still at her side. She stormed into his office.

"Ah, there you are," Kolya said as he looked up from the papers on his desk. "You just saved me the trouble of having to summon you."

"I have just received a report that both Jehk Crola and Mar'Ragan are dead, along with all of their other lieutenants," the Record Keeper stated angrily.

"Yes, so I've heard," Kolya responded unemotionally. "They organized a raid on a Wraith outpost, and then were killed in the retaliatory strike."

"And you did nothing to stop it." She wasn't going to let him deflect her anger.

"There wasn't much I could have said to stop them," he explained matter-of-factly. "Besides, that doesn't really matter. You're next in line to lead your people now."

"I have no one left to lead except a few frightened mothers, children, and a handful of messengers out of hundreds of soldiers that managed to make it away from that place alive." She leaned closer and put her hands onto his desk. "Mar'Ragan and Jehk Crola were good men, even if they had foolish aspirations for vengeance. And if I find that you had anything to do with this, Kolya, I will kill you myself."

Kolya watched her storm out of his office. If she became a liability, he decided it would be best to have a backup plan to have her disposed of. He called his own most trusted lieutenant to his office to arrange it immediately. 


	9. Chapter 8

Rodney knew that Carson's symptoms would be acute and immediate the moment he woke, but he could do nothing about it but stare at his prostrate form on the cold, hard concrete floor of their cell. He didn't see his chest moving at all, and so Rodney was suddenly concerned that Carson might already be dead. He deftly moved his hand over to Carson's wrist to check for a pulse, wondering why Carson hadn't checked his own wrist instead of his neck that first day in the cell, which ended up scaring the crap out of him.

McKay sighed in relief as he felt a weak but steady pulse. Carson's face was deathly pale and again covered with a film of cold, clammy sweat. His eyes suddenly fluttered open. He tried to look about, but couldn't focus his eyes. All around him the plain white walls shifted and morphed, and then it became a little clearer.

"Are you all right?" the man sitting next to him asked with concern in his voice. Carson didn't recognize him.

Carson became confused as he realized that he was sitting in short stubbly grass with his back against the thick, gnarled trunk of a tree. They were sitting at the edge of a stand of trees near the edge of a rocky hill, where beyond he could hear the waves of the ocean lapping against rocky shores. It was too dark to make out the man's face, though.

"Are we lost?" Carson asked. The man's face was becoming clearer in the darkness, and he thought he could almost recognize him.

McKay was somewhat taken aback by the question, but decided it was best not to argue. "Yeah, we're lost, but don't worry. I'm going to figure out how to get us out of here somehow."

"We can't be that far from home, Edward," Carson said, trying to force a smile as he finally managed to recognize the face he saw as belonging to one of his older brothers. "I can hear the ocean."

Rodney sat back against the wall and didn't respond. He was now certain that Carson had truly lost it.

"Gah, I feel horrible." Carson clenched his eyes against the pain, which felt like fire flowing through his veins. "I don't remember what happened."

"You're probably better off that way." Rodney was in no mood to reminisce.

"Edward," Carson gasped after a moment. "You were always there for me when I needed you. But if you get a chance to go for help, I want you to go."

Rodney wanted to ask him what he thought was going on, but didn't. It was clear that Carson was hallucinating again. If it made him feel better to think that he was sitting next to his brother, then he would let him. "I'm not going anywhere, Carson."

"I'm so tired," Carson said as he settled back against the tree, exhausted.

"Get some rest. I'm sure you need it." Rodney couldn't help but wonder where Carson actually believed he was, but at this point he was sure that anywhere would have been better than the small concrete closet that they were being kept in. He watched as Carson slipped into a fitful sleep.

ELSEWHERE

The Record Keeper stared morbidly at the casualty and intelligence reports that had been set on her desk, not quite willing to accept that all the names that had been written on it had been the last surviving soldiers of her people. A part of her want to refuse to believe that Mar'Ragan had been naive enough to willingly follow Jehk Crola's plan to exact vengeance on the Wraith by taking back an outpost they had set up on yet another world that they had culled.

But it was all too obvious that it was indeed their own foolishness that had gotten them killed and not Kolya, although she still suspected that he had something to do with it. But Kolya was good; the chances of discovering evidence linking him to their deaths were lower than she cared to admit. But if that link existed she was determined to find it.

She paged through the reports looking for clues, then three them away in disgust. The Record Keeper pushed herself out of her chair and decided to take a walk through the compound to clear her mind, which usually worked relatively well. But on her way back to her office, she decided to make a stop in the filing room that the Genii kept the original copies of their intelligence reports in.

The attendant at the desk gave her a passing glance and at first seemed as though he would stop her from entering, but apparently decided it would be better to simply keep an eye on her instead. She wanted to know more about this world that Crola had decided to raid, and this paper-pusher wasn't going to stop her.

She searched cabinet after cabinet for the archives of the most recently recorded activity on the planet, but could find no records. After looking back through cabinets of older files, she finally spied a file that looked very familiar. It was a copy of a report that she had seen in Jehk Crola's possession, but it was apparently quite old. The date on the report appeared to actually indicate that the Wraith had set up their outpost three years and two months ago, not just the mere two months that Crola had been led to believe.

She spun around to release her fury onto the attendant that had been following her, but he was gone. He must have left to inform Kolya of what she had found, but that didn't matter. She would confront him and kill him for his betrayal soon enough, just as soon as she felt she was prepared for the onslaught from the Genii that she was sure would follow. Dr. McKay's cooperation would be vital, and so she had a lot to do. 


	10. Chapter 9

McKay woke to the sound of the lock being turned. Beckett was still asleep and the guards hadn't brought their breakfast yet, which meant that they were coming for them quite a bit earlier than they normally did today. As the guards picked Beckett up from the floor, it was obvious to Rodney that he didn't have the strength to struggle against them.

They were quickly dragged once again to the Record Keeper's office and sat in their normal chairs. The Record Keeper looked up from the pile of papers littered across her desk.

"Dr. McKay, you're going to tell me what I want to know, or you're going to watch Dr. Beckett die."

"I'm not telling you my codes," McKay reiterated.

The Record Keeper didn't move her eyes from McKay as she reached down to the left of her desk and grabbed the strap of a bag that somewhat resembled a knapsack. He watched intently as she produced a crystal-like object from it and placed it on the desk. She could detect his surprise through the façade of disinterest he was showing.

"I want to know what this is and what it is used for, and I want to know right now." The Record Keeper was insistent. If she was going to have a bargaining chip to use against Kolya, this was something she needed to know. When McKay failed to answer in a timely fashion, she once again opened the drawer of her desk and retrieved the poison and a syringe.

"Dr. Beckett won't survive another dose of poison," she said as she rolled up Beckett's sleeves once more. "Once I inject him with it he will have at most two hours to live, and given his current condition I think that is a very generous estimate"  
As much as he wanted to do something save Carson's life, he couldn't allow the secrets of the ZPM to fall into the hands of Kolya. He remained silent, and then watched in horror as she injected Carson with the poison.

Suddenly, a rumble shook the room, followed quickly by a loud explosion sounding in the distance, followed by several more rounds of explosions. The Record Keeper quickly rose to her feet and sent one of the guards out for news, then returned to her chair.

"I still have a supply of the counter-agent, Dr. McKay." She spoke slowly and attentively, but Rodney would not budge. "It works very quickly, which means that it's not too late to tell me what I want to know."

The last thing Rodney wanted was to enter into a staring contest with her, but he found himself succeeding at it quite well. It must have been the stress of this life-or-death situation that gave him his bravery, because inside he was quaking and would have liked nothing more than to be able to simply run away.

Behind him, Rodney heard the click of the guard returning through the door, but was surprised to see a half dozen more Genii soldiers accompanying him. The Record Keeper rose slowly from her chair.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked carefully.

"We have orders to take that device back into Commander Kolya's possession," one of the guards explained. "Hand it over."

With hardly a sign of movement, the guards tensed as they suddenly realized that the Record Keeper had somehow made a knife and a hand gun appear in her right and left hands, respectively. "Come and take it."

As the first soldier took a step forward, she shot him square in the chest. Before the other guards could raise their weapons, three more guards fell from gunshots to the chest. The final four guards found themselves attempting to surround a whirlwind of death at the hands of the Record Keeper, who viciously stabbed and slashed at them before they could even aim their own hand guns at her. A guard almost caught her in his sights, but she held like a shield the dying body of another guard whose neck she had gouged. She calmly raised her hand gun and put a well-placed bullet in his forehead.

The sudden violence and gore that had just assaulted his senses shocked McKay into a stunned silence as she placed the ZPM into her knapsack. He was glad that Carson had fallen into unconsciousness and hadn't had to witness the gruesome sight.  
The boy messenger that Rodney had seen before appeared at her doorway again, and he was obviously bringing her news. Just as he began to whisper into her ear, a radio still laying at the side of one of the dead Genii soldiers crackled to life.

Kolya's voice sounded harsh and unforgiving. "Kalrin, do you have it?" When there was no answer, he repeated. "Kalrin, come in. Do you have the ZPM?"

The Record Keeper picked up the radio and spoke into it with an emotion in her voice that Rodney had never heard before. "Kolya, you dishonorable coward! How dare you betray me!"

"I know what you found in those files, and I know what your honor requires you to do," he explained smugly. "I simply betrayed you before you could betray me."

"If you run from me, I swear I will hunt you down and kill you very slowly." She spoke slowly, barely concealing her contempt and rage.

One more explosion resounded through the hallways of the compound. "That seems unlikely at this point." Kolya was obviously confident that his plan had succeeded as he stopped transmission.

The young messenger continued his message, not bothering to whisper this time. "Kolya has destroyed Gates two and three already! I can only assume that the last explosion was the destruction of Gate one. We're trapped in this forsaken place!" 


	11. Chapter 10

Dr. Elizabeth Wier jerked upright, startled. She had leaned her head against the palm of her hand as she re-read the report in front of her for the hundredth time and must have almost dozed off. Rubbing the fatigue from her eyes, she stood up and reached for the carafe of coffee and allowed herself to forget that it was the seventh cup she'd had in the last forty-eight hours. Having gotten no sleep at all in that time, it was getting difficult to concentrate on the issue at hand.

Colonel Sheppard's team had been missing for five days now and she was frustrated at the lack of control that she had over the situation. Of course Ladon Radim had been very little help in that regard. All he had managed to tell her was that someone in his network of spies among Kolya's rank reported seeing Sheppard and his team, and that this time the address of that world was known only to Kolya himself.

After having sent teams to search a number of worlds that Ladon had suggested only to find absolutely nothing, any hope of rescuing the team that remained was fading quickly. Dr. Wier had initially doubted Ladon's claims that it was Kolya who had captured them, being that he had made no demands in exchange for their release. Thus, all she had to go on were Ladon's intelligence reports in the hope that his inside man would eventually come through for her.

She made her way out of her office back to the control room, unsure how long it had been since the last communication with Ladon. As she did, the lighted chevrons of the Stargate began to glow, indicating an incoming wormhole. A sergeant whose name she had been constantly forgetting with her fatigue sat at a nearby console and automatically raised the shield that protected the control room from unwanted visitors.

"Incoming transmission on a Genii frequency, Ma'am," he said despondently as the wormhole was established.

"Pipe it through." Dr. Wier's brow furrowed as Ladon Radim's voice sounded through the control room.

"We've received reports of a number of explosions and an evacuation of the compound where Colonel Sheppard's team is being held," Ladon explained unwaveringly. "Unfortunately, the reports are somewhat vague as to the status of your team, but I thought you'd want to know."

"This kind of news doesn't help me much, Ladon." Her frustration was showing through her voice, as much as she tried to be patient with him. "If we are going to be able to help them, we need to know where they are."

"We're doing everything we can, but Kolya didn't trust anyone with the address of that world." His insistence was beginning to sound like an excuse to her.

"Keep me posted, please," was all she could say in response as the wormhole disengaged. The waiting game was not over, not by a long shot.

----- MEANWHILE -----

It was all Kolya could do just to keep from releasing his anger on the nearest lieutenant. A team of some of his best men had failed to bring back the Ancient device and had forced him to implement his backup plan too early. He had been left with only just enough time to gather his men and the few weapons they had been carrying with them in order to evacuate the compound before the Record Keeper could react to his betrayal. Why couldn't she just die along with everyone else that was in his way?

Kolya's radio chirped, then a voice familiar to him spoke. "Kolya, did you make it out of there alright? What's going on?"

His frown deepened. He didn't really have time for this. "I'm fine," he assured the voice over the radio. "I'll contact you later."

Grateful for the momentary distraction from his irritated mood, Kolya's lieutenants gathered around him, waiting for orders. "Did you manage to save the canisters of poisonous gas, as I asked?" Kolya frowned expectantly at the lieutenant to his left.

He shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and spoke carefully. "Yes sir. We moved all the canisters out of the compound hours ago, as ordered."

"Good," Kolya said, feeling a bit more confident, then continued. "Are there any gaps in the rubble that they might escape through?"

"There is a small gap in the rubble at Gate one, sir," a younger man across from Kolya answered. "But I don't think it's big enough for them to escape through."

Kolya glared at him. "I will not underestimate them. Shove every single one of those canisters through that gap and trigger them, immediately."

"But sir! That's the new formula!" the first lieutenant protested. "All of them?"

"Yes, all of them," Kolya sneered. "I want them all dead before they even know what killed them. In a few hours when the gas has dissipated, retrieve the device."

"Yes, sir," they all answered in unison, and then rushed off to perform their duty. 


	12. Chapter 11

For what seemed like the hundredth time since they had started moving, Rodney wished that Carson would open his eyes and wake up. It wasn't just that he was worried about his well-being, but that he wasn't sure how much longer he was capable of dragging Carson through the dim hallways. Being prodded with the point of the Record Keeper's gun in the back when he started slowing down certainly wasn't helping.

The Record Keeper had minutes ago sent her messenger to find whoever was left in the compound after the entrance gates had been blasted. He had managed to return quickly enough with about a dozen men wearing crimson tabards, at least half of which appeared to be wounded in some fashion. They quickly fell into step with the Record Keeper, awaiting orders.

"I want four guards on these prisoners at all times," she ordered. Four men broke off of the main group and surrounded McKay, two of them lifting his burden from his shoulders onto their own. "The rest of you, fetch the remaining prisoners from their cells and meet us on the top level of the complex."

With a whisper unheard to Rodney's ears, the Record Keeper gave some unknown orders to the messenger boy, who promptly ran off down the hallway ahead of them to carry the orders out. She remained silent and attentive throughout their trek through unlit and dimly lit hallways and stairwells until they reached a heavy steel door that led to a part of the complex that Rodney had never seen before.

The Record Keeper moved off to the side of the door and used an access code on the manual combination lock mechanism, which resulted in a faint click. The power had been interrupted in that section of the complex, so the electric motor that assisted in opening the heavy door failed. With a motion of her hand, the guards surrounding Rodney promptly forced the door open wide enough to fit through.

On the other side of the door was a cavernous room filled with hydraulic machines and what appeared to be air recirculation machines, which were connected to endless lengths of ducts and a ventilation shaft that seemed to disappear into the ceiling. The messenger boy chose that moment to re-appear carrying what appeared to be a grappling hook of some kind, and was followed closely behind by dozens of old women, very young women, and their children. They loosely collected in the doorway and made it difficult for the guards behind them to push their way through.

Rodney gaped in amazement and relief as the guards at the back pushed Colonel Sheppard, Ronon, and Teyla through the crowd into the room. A swollen purple black eye was visible around Sheppard's left eye.

"What happened to you?" Rodney asked incredulously.

Sheppard's curious study of their surroundings found Carson lying unconscious on the floor where the guards had left him after securing the room. "I tried to escape," he answered. "What happened to Beckett?"

Before Rodney could respond, the sounds of coughing and screaming began to echo through the crowd of people still near the door. The Record Keeper rushed past. "Poisonous gas," she surmised out loud and started pushing. "Quickly, help me push the door closed!"

A few guards shoved the side of the door as it creaked with the pressure, slowly managing to shut it most of the way. Most of them had held their breath, but one unlucky man fell into a fit of coughing and began to convulse. The Record Keeper grabbed some blankets from one of the bundles of cloth that had been brought with some of the older women and shoved it in the crack between the floor and the door to keep out the gas.

After some of the women pulled the convulsing man from the doorway to tend to him, the Record Keeper crossed back across the room to where the messenger was loading a harpoon gun fitted with his grappling hook. He carefully aimed for the unseen edge at the top of the ventilation shaft that had been cut into the rock above the hidden underground compound.

His second try managed to find the ledge. She held the end of the rope as still as she could while he scurried up its length to the top of the shaft. He opened the hatch at the top, and after a moment waved his arms to signal all-clear. "Get the women and children out first," she ordered the nearest guards, who began to shimmy up the rope to help.

She turned her attention back to her prisoners as the evacuation was in progress. The fabric she had pushed under the door wouldn't hold back the poisonous gas forever, so there was very little time to plan. She pulled out her hand gun and aimed it squarely at Colonel Sheppard's chest.

"I don't have the luxury of time any more, Dr. McKay." Not a flicker of emotion showed through her steely glare. "What does the device do?"

McKay hesitated and said nothing. She waited a moment to gauge his reaction, then aimed carefully and slowly pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced mid-way through Sheppard's left shoulder and exited through his scapula, causing profuse bleeding. The guard holding him took a step back, and the force of the impact was enough to knock Sheppard off balance and cause him to fall heavily to the floor. Ronon and Teyla looked on in anger and astonishment. For a moment the Record Keeper was afraid that Ronon would attack, but the wraith stunner held at his back had him keep his anger in check.

"Now two of your friends are near death," she stated neutrally, taking a few steps toward him with the gun now aimed at Ronon. "Shall we make it three?"

Rodney began to tremble. 


	13. Chapter 12

The Record Keeper waited patiently for an answer, still aiming the gun at Ronon's chest. She had every intention of killing him if McKay did not answer to her satisfaction, and Rodney must have suspected as much.

"It's a ZPM," he answered meekly, his voice cracking.

"What is the acronym's meaning?" She took a step closer.

"Zero-Point Module," Rodney replied. He was obviously not prepared to watch any of his friends die meaninglessly if there was anything he could do about it.

"What does it do?" The Record Keeper was absolutely still and her gaze unmoved as repeated her first question.

He blinked, not sure that she would understand the mechanics of circuitry. He tried to explain anyway. "It generates electricity when connected to a closed circuit."

After taking a moment to digest McKay's explanation, she lowered the weapon. Teyla and Ronon immediately knelt down next to Sheppard and pressed their hands against his shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but his face was already turning a pale bone-white as a pool of maroon-colored blood seeped along the floor next to him.

By this time, almost all of the people who had been waiting to be evacuated had gone. The guards picked the prisoners up from the floor and began dragging them to the rope that led through the shaft. After securing Beckett first, he was hoisted up by the soldiers at the top of the shaft. Sheppard was secured next after the rope was lowered, followed by Ronon, Teyla, and McKay. The Record Keeper was the last to arrive at the surface after the rest of the guards had been hoisted out of the machine room.

The hatch entrance exited out onto the side of a sandy hill, obscured by some scraggly bushes. The weather was perfectly clear without a cloud in sight to obscure the lavender-tinged sky. Sparse trees and outcroppings of boulders dotted the edges of the horizon, and very little grass could be seen growing anywhere. They navigated across several dunes of boulders and sand before finally climbing a hill. An active Stargate could be seen far from the other side at the bottom, not too far from a sandy beach with blue-green water lapping lightly on its shores.

A destroyed entrance to the underground complex was visible from their position, although Rodney could well imagine that it had been well-hidden before it had been destroyed. Kolya could be seen pacing back and forth in the middle of about two-dozen Genii soldiers, speaking to someone on his radio. He figured that the other Stargate that they had originally been brought through had probably been used as a way to conceal the location of the compound, like the Russians had once done before the second Stargate located on Earth had been destroyed.

"We still have our weapons, Ma'am. Shall we attack?" asked one of the young men guarding Rodney.

"No," she replied thoughtfully. "We're too greatly outnumbered. They will be waiting for the gas to dissipate and then go inside to find us. If know Kolya, he will be going inside with his men and leave some of them behind to guard the entrance. We'll have a better chance of surprising them then."

She ushered the eager soldiers back down the hill the way they had come. She pulled a diagram of the compound from her bag and laid it out on the ground to discuss their options for planning an attack.

MEANWHILE

Kolya hated having to wait for the relay station to connect with the communications grid in order to call back his contacts. He was normally a very patient person, but slow communications was one thing he had no patience for. It seemed too much like incompetence.

After a few moments as he was pacing, the familiar voice sounded once again. "Kolya, what the hell are you doing to our alliance with the Lokhen? We need them!"

"We don't need them, Ladon!" Kolya snarled back angrily, beginning to lose patience. "I'll have everything that I need soon enough once they're all dead."

"You used all the explosives as well as all the gas that they provided us on the destruction of the compound!" Ladon Radim shouted in annoyance through the static.

Kolya calmed himself, ready to defend his position. "We have the formulas to make more. The Lokhen were becoming a liability."

Ladon paused for a moment to think, but seemed to be willing to let it go for the moment. "I've been trying to stall Dr. Wier, but I think she is becoming suspicious."

"Don't worry about Dr. Wier," Kolya assured him. "Sheppard and his team should be dead by now. I'll take care of the situation with her once I have the Ancient device. Keep stalling as long as you can, and be ready to leak the address to Wier when I send the signal."

Having said all that needed to be said, Kolya placed the radio back on his belt and organized a team to uncover and search the compound. Soon, he would have a weapon that would wipe out all his most hated enemies once and for all. 


	14. Chapter 13

Rodney didn't much feel like listening to the conversation going on nearby. He was sure that whatever the Record Keeper decided to do, it would likely result in all their deaths. He was too ashamed about having told her what she wanted to know to want something else to worry about with it.

He instead decided to check on Carson, who was still pale and lying unconscious where the soldiers had laid him upon hefting him out of the compound. He wearily felt for a weak and erratic pulse and was relieved to find him still alive. It felt like an eternity had passed, but it had only been just over an hour since he was injected with poison, and Rodney was still trying to hold out some hope of a rescue.

He glanced over at Ronon and Teyla, who were still at Colonel Sheppard's side. They had managed to stop the bleeding by tying a strip of fabric around the wound, but he had lost of lot of blood. Sheppard had been very quiet. For a moment, Rodney wondered if perhaps Sheppard was disappointed with him, but quickly brushed the thought from his mind. Now was not the time to dwell on his weaknesses, but to plan an escape.

The Record Keeper had sent a few of the more responsible older boys to perform reconnaissance on Kolya and his men, and they had just returned to report that Kolya and eight others had entered the compound. Barely a dozen Genii soldiers remained to guard the entrance, which was the moment she had been waiting for. She picked up a weapon and began softly speaking some words of encouragement to the soldiers surrounding her.

"Many of our mothers, fathers, sisters, and children were culled by the Wraith." She lowered her eyes, her face solemn and harsh as she spoke. "And now many of our friends, brothers, comrades, and mentors are dead at the hands of Acastus Kolya. I give you my word as your leader that I will not allow this dishonor to go unpunished."

Without another word, Rodney was pulled to his feet by a couple of boys wielding guns and was shoved over to Sheppard's side. The boys had also been given the task of guarding the Record Keeper's bag. He was not permitted to even watch the altercation between the Lokhen and Kolya's soldiers, but decided that perhaps he was probably better off that way. The Record Keeper trailed between the dunes as another group left in another direction. Rodney had to give her credit for coordinating the attack so precisely, and he noted with some trepidation that it was over quite quickly.

The barrage of gunfire hadn't lasted very long, but what came next was truly a surprise to Rodney. He could have sworn that he saw sand shifting toward the top of a nearby dune of sand, the telltale signs of an ambush. Without even a warning, the boys guarding them were all shot dead center in their chests, dying instantly. Rodney didn't dare move a muscle as Kolya and his group of soldiers as well as the Record Keeper and her soldiers all approached his position at the same time. A standoff between the two parties thus ensued. The women and children behind him ran for their lives, and were thankfully ignored.

Kolya boldly made his way to the fallen bodies of the boys, opened the now unguarded bag, and retrieved his prize. "I certainly didn't underestimate you this time," he said confidently. "I figured that you were smart enough to find a way out, although I admit that I don't know how you managed to get a hold of the pass code to open the door to the air recirculation room."

The Record Keeper said nothing in response, but Kolya noted that the scowl that had appeared on her face had deepened substantially. "Drop your weapons," Kolya ordered, but after a waiting a moment for them to comply he received no response. "I happen to know for a fact that only two of you have reloaded ammunition in your weapons since you last used them. If you try to fight, you will all die."

Kolya's words echoed through the Record Keeper's mind. She had reloaded her own weapon, but couldn't help but acknowledge that Kolya may have the upper hand in that regard. They hadn't managed to save much ammunition and hadn't managed to kill very many of Kolya's men before the ambush, and so even now she and her men were still outnumbered. She reluctantly lowered her weapon to the sandy ground at her feet, her men following suit.

Colonel Sheppard had managed to remain conscious as the bleeding from his shoulder had been stopped. He tried to stand on weak legs to watch the events unfold before him, instantly sure that the confidence Kolya was displaying meant that he had a plan in mind that would kill them all. The movement caught Kolya's attention.

"Colonel Sheppard!" Kolya exclaimed, almost excited, as his men collected the weapons that had been placed on the ground. "I'm glad you're still alive. I wouldn't want you to die before you see the fruition of my great plan."

The Record Keeper took the moment of distraction to attack the Genii soldier that had bent over to pick up her dropped weapon, thrusting her knee quite heavily into his face. Without bothering to even pick up her weapon, she threw herself against the next nearest soldier and tossed him to the side. Pandemonium broke out as Genii guards that still had weapons holstered them in favor of hand-to-hand combat so that they would not hurt their fellow soldiers in the melee.

A few men grabbed the weapons of the Genii they were fighting and used them. The Record Keeper and most of her men managed to break free of the fight and dashed for cover behind the nearest dune of sand and dry, scraggly grass, those still with weapons trying to cover their escape.

As most of his men gave chase to the escaping prisoners, Kolya calmly walked back around the side of the dune that his men had been hiding behind, retrieved an object wrapped in a tarp, and then uncovered it. What was revealed was a crude-looking hollow device that resembled a vaguely cylindrical shape. Kolya picked up the ZPM and pushed it into place inside the cylindrical device. The glow and faint hum of the ZPM indicated that a circuit had been completed and that the device was drawing power for some unknown purpose. A display on the device's side suddenly came to life, showing what appeared to be a countdown.

"Yes, Colonel Sheppard," Kolya assured him with a snide voice. "It is a bomb. And if my scientists were correct in calculating its destructive potential, it's more than powerful enough to destroy the entire continent that we're standing on, and perhaps even powerful enough to kill all life everywhere on this entire world.

"Good-bye, Colonel Sheppard," Kolya said as he flipped a switch on the device, causing it to hum more loudly. He turned back to his men and promptly began giving orders. "Let the others go; they no longer concern us. Leave Sheppard and his team alive for Wier to find, but bind their hands and feet. Get back to the Stargate when you're finished."

Kolya's men tied rope around their hands and ankles and quickly rejoined their commanding officer at the gate to make their escape. Rodney sighed heavily as he heard a small explosion toward the direction of the Stargate, followed by the whoosh of the gate shutting down. "Is now a good time to panic?" Rodney said as he struggled against the ropes binding his hands. 


	15. Chapter 14

Elizabeth Wier had retired to her quarters a few hours ago and had out of sheer exhaustion managed to fall into a fitful sleep. Ladon Radim had graciously offered to return and provide any blueprints and maps that he had in his collection of intelligence, but wasn't much help. His return hadn't marked the discovery of any new information and Elizabeth was simply drained. She'd hoped a few hours of sleep would help.

A moment later, the chirp and chatter of her communications ear piece woke her. She marveled at how often it seemed to happen. No matter how little sleep she got, the sounds of every-day life on Atlantis never seemed to stop waking her. "Wier, here," she replied absently. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Ma'am," the nameless tech who was the on night-watch duty in the control room said tiredly. "We're receiving another Genii transmission. I thought you'd want to know about it."

"Alright," she answered as she rubbed the exhaustion from her face and pulled on her shoes. "Wake Radim and get him to the control room. I'll be right there."

When Elizabeth arrived, Radim was already there and eagerly waiting to give her the report. "My intelligence network has managed to find the address of the planet where Colonel Sheppard and his team are being held prisoner. From what I understand, they were all still alive when the report was sent."

"Write down the address for me, please," she asked Ladon, then turned to the nameless sergeant to give the order. "Wake all the backup search teams. I want them ready to go in twenty minutes."

MEANWHILE

Colonel Sheppard's vision was blurred and he figured it was probably because of his shoulder. The blood had oozed and caked itself in gobs on his uniform where he'd been shot. His hands had been painfully yanked behind his back when the Genii had bound them together, thus reopening the wound. He clenched his eyes shut and wished the pain away.

It took a good minute before Rodney's question registered in his mind, but it was all he could do just to keep from gasping in pain. All he really wanted to do was lie down and get some rest, but he forced himself to remain alert. "Do you think you can disarm the bomb?"

"My hands need to be free to find that out, Colonel." McKay's voice was tense and panicky as he tried to wriggle his hands free, to no avail. The sudden feel of cold metal on his wrist made him jump.

"Hold still or I'm liable to cut you," the strong voice of the Record Keeper behind him spoke quietly as she freed his hands, and then began cutting the ropes binding the others.

As they shakily climbed to their feet, the eyes of all the women, all the children, all the soldiers, and the Record Keeper were on them. No one said a word until the Record Keeper finally spoke again. "Can you disarm it?"

As if Rodney had forgotten their predicament and was suddenly reminded of it, he lunged for the device humming in the sand. After taking a moment to turn it over in his hands to look for an access panel to finagle open, there was a faint click. He inspected a particular area of the casing very carefully. No one dared to breathe.

Rodney slowly and carefully lowered the device back down into the sand. "Uh-oh," was all that managed to escape his lips.

"Well, what is it?" Sheppard demanded angrily.

Rodney gulped nervously and stood slowly. "Kolya rigged the casing to short out the circuitry if it's opened. I can't disarm it or remove the ZPM without it detonating."

Sheppard looked to the Record Keeper, who seemed to looking at the characters that were being displayed on the front panel of the device. "How long do we have before that thing blows?"

She glared at him coldly, but decided to answer. "Just under fifteen minutes."

A murmur of nervous banter and fearful cries rose from the crowd of women and children standing behind the Record Keeper. One of the young Lokhen women began to sob and cry, scooping up a small child into her arms and hugging him close to her.

"Rodney…" a voice behind Sheppard called out softly. It was Carson. He had finally woken up from his lapse in consciousness and was sitting up, his wrists and ankles still tied in front of him. His voice stuttered tiredly as he spoke between pained gasps of breath. "I want… to help."

Rodney marveled at his persistence and wondered how it was even possible for him to try to get up in his condition, but went to help untie his bonds anyway. He thought Carson's face looked paler and whiter than he had ever seen it. Even the strain of simply holding out his arms for Rodney seemed like too much. "I'm afraid there's not much you can do at the moment. Are you feeling better?"

Just as Rodney finished removing the last rope tied to Carson's ankle, the familiar sound of the Stargate opening a wormhole sounded again in the distance. Kolya had already left the planet, so Rodney figured that it must be an incoming wormhole. Rodney pulled Carson to his feet with a grunt of effort and slung Carson's arm over his shoulder. The man felt heavier than before somehow, and he started becoming annoyed when neither Teyla nor Ronon made a move to help. "A little help here, please? Don't worry, Carson. We're getting out of here."

The Record Keeper once again raised her weapon. "Don't move. I'm in charge here, McKay, not Sheppard." She turned to the soldier next to her. "Find out who it is."

He started jogging in the direction of the Stargate to follow his orders, taking a couple more soldiers with him. Within moments they were running back the way they had come, coming to a stop in front of the Record Keeper to breathlessly report what they saw. "They're Lantean soldiers, Ma'am; a lot of them!" 


	16. Chapter 15

Rodney's eyes scanned the sandy dunes eagerly, not remembering a time in his life he was so glad to see so many Special Forces men armed with P90 and M5 machine guns barreling down towards him. He was still at Carson's side and tried to stand, but was caught off guard by the sensation of being off-balance. Someone had grabbed the back of his jacket and was dragging him forward.

He was stunned by the feel of the Record Keeper's powerful grip, which forced him into an uncomfortable semi-crouch in front of her, his back bent backwards painfully due to the small difference in height between them. The ice cold touch of the barrel of a gun pressed against his temple was almost as cold as the touch of her fingers on his neck, holding him still. Rodney watched with dread as the SFs approached cautiously and raised their weapons.

"Hold your fire!" Dr. Wier ordered her teams as she almost tumbled over the edge of the sand dune. She carefully took her place in front of them and brought her negotiator persona to the forefront. "Who are you? Where's Kolya?"

The Record Keeper flicked off the safety switch of the weapon, still pressed squarely against McKay's head. Her gaze shifted slightly as she saw the face of Ladon Radim appear behind her, but he was not her priority at the moment. "My identity and Kolya's whereabouts are not important right now. What is important is that if you don't do exactly as I say, Dr. McKay will be the first to die."

The soldiers behind the Record Keeper immediately understood her desire and picked Colonel Sheppard and his team up off the ground to their feet, guns ready. Two young men picked Beckett up off the ground too quickly, and Carson's head started spinning. He almost toppled over onto them from the sudden vertigo, but their strong grip prevented him from falling. The scene began to shift again and Carson found himself surrounded by Wraith ready to feed on him and Rodney. His heart jumped into his throat and adrenaline pumped through his veins, sending him into a state of panic as he thrashed about wildly.

"The Stargate is still open," the Record Keeper continued, ignoring Carson's wild struggle, "and I'm sure that Kolya has damaged the dialing device beyond repair. Tell your people to send a power generator and a computer, and I'll let him go as soon as my people and I are safely on our way."

Dr. Wier glared at her coldly. "I don't make deals with people who take hostages, and even if I did, I have no guarantee that you will keep your word and let him go."

"There is no need for any more pointless bloodshed," the Record Keeper argued, glancing at the numbers displaying on the device that could mean their doom. "As weak and foolishly sentimental you and your people are, I am a person of my word and I have no quarrel with you. We simply wish to leave, and if you don't do as I say in the next eight minutes, we will all die."

Elizabeth notice the device she had stolen a glance at and all at once realized that she was probably right, and that they were all in terrible danger. She hesitated, unable to bring herself to simply comply with the Lokhen leader's demands; but if this really was a bomb ready to go off and kill them all, she wanted to be prepared to leave immediately. "Lieutenant," she turned to a young man beside her. "Contact Atlantis, make sure Dr. Zelenka is prepared to dial the Stargate manually, and take some men with you to help him."

As the young lieutenant rushed back to the Stargate to contact Atlantis, Carson's limbs felt stronger than they had been in some time. He summoned every bit of strength he had left in him and threw himself at the guard to his left, who still had a Genii weapon in his possession. He grabbed furiously for the gun, and in his haste shot the man vying him for it. The other guard made a dash for the gun, but Carson in his state of panic was too quick. The guard fell to the sand in a heap, clenching the side of his torso where Carson knew the man's liver should be.

Teyla lunged against the strong grip of the guard holding her and yelled a frustrated warning, to no avail. A wave of vertigo almost overcame Carson again as he shakily raised the weapon toward the female Wraith that had Rodney in its clutches, ready to feed, and fired the weapon. The moment passed in what seemed to him like slow motion and ended suddenly as Lokhen soldiers tackled him into the sand, confiscating his weapon. One of them let loose a punch that cracked his jaw, and a wave of blackness overtook Carson before he had a chance to even realize what he'd done.

The bullet caught the Record Keeper in the back and passed through her abdomen, narrowly missing her spine, and then continued traveling through the other side into Rodney where it lodged itself between two of his ribs. She nearly collapsed on top of him, causing wave after wave of pain and nausea to ripple through Rodney's body.

She hauled herself and Rodney to her feet before the stunned Dr. Wier and the SFs had a chance to react. The gun was once again threateningly raised to Rodney's head. 


	17. Chapter 16

Author's Note: WARNING – minor character death in this chapter!

Ladon Radim had slunk past them to have a better look at the device that had been laid onto the sand, still humming softly. Dr. Wier had a nagging suspicion that Ladon seemed to recognize the device, but made no comment of it. "What the hell was Kolya thinking?" he asked no-one in particular.

"You should know." The Record Keeper gasped, her voice barely audible, and then she shifted and leveled her weapon at him. "You ordered him to betray us."

He stood quickly with surprise, stunned that she knew of his involvement, and the subtle fact had not been lost on Dr. Wier, either. She glared at him and stood by in surprise as the weapon's sights were brought onto him. "I didn't order anything of the sort!" he stammered as he stumbled backward in fear. "It was Kolya's doing! I didn't want him to betray you!"

"Nevertheless," she stated pointedly, "you allowed it to happen. Be grateful that I have decided to permit you a soldier's death. It's better than you deserve."

He turned to run but was too late to stop the well-placed bullet that pierced the spine of his upper back and interrupted his heart rhythms, killing him almost instantly. Dr. Wier looked up, stunned, her face aghast.

"Was that really necessary?" Wier demanded harshly.

"Kolya betrayed Ladon, just as Ladon betrayed you." The Record Keeper spoke in pained gasps, blood trickling from one of the corners of her mouth. "I did you a favor by executing him."

"And now Kolya will be free to take over leadership of the Genii from Ladon now that he's dead." Wier thought that she would have rather seen Ladon continue as leader than see Kolya with power.

"I will kill Kolya for betraying me," the Lokhen leader assured her, again glancing at the chronometer on the device. "But right now, we have six minutes before that device explodes and kills us all. Do you intend to allow us to leave peacefully, or shall we wait for our destruction together?"

The Record Keeper couldn't help but respect Dr. Wier and ended up showing her a small, peculiar smile despite the pain and haziness brought on by internal bleeding. Wier's people had been well-trained and were worthy adversaries, well-deserving of an honorable death, but it was not her intention to die before Kolya.

Dr. Wier considered the alternatives carefully, but couldn't conceive that there was any other way out of their situation except to capitulate to her demands. Slowly, she turned to the side and touched her radio. "Zelenka, are you ready to dial the gate?"

His response could just barely be heard by the silent crowd. "Almost," he replied with a faint Czech accent. "I need an address to dial."

With her gun still in her hand, the Record Keeper dragged a groaning Rodney over the last dune of sand between the device and the Stargate. The other Lokhen soldiers followed close behind her, with Dr. Wier, her search teams, and Sheppard's team close after. Ronon carried Carson as Teyla tried to help Colonel Sheppard keep up.

A sandy-haired man wearing a blue shirt sat precariously in the sand punching keys on a laptop computer connected to the dialing device. He looked up as she approached, the Lantean guards cautiously stepping back. She shoved him aside roughly, practically dropping Rodney on top of him. He grunted under the weight, but said nothing.

After figuring out how to use the keys on the computer to dial an address, the broken and charred remnants of the dialing device came alive and in the Stargate opened up its blue, water-like wormhole that led to another world. With a motion of the Record Keeper's hand, the few remaining Lokhen soldiers began corralling the women and children through the event horizon of the Stargate.

Ronon unceremoniously settled Carson back down onto the sand next to where Dr. Wier, Teyla, and Sheppard were standing. Rodney pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the lancing pain in his complaining ribs, and dragged himself to Carson's side. He felt for a pulse and found it faint and rapid, a sure sign that he was close to death.

"Hey!" Rodney yelled as the Record Keeper was helped up the steps leading to the Stargate by the last couple of Lokhen remaining. She halted midway to the chagrin of her helpers, and slowly turned to face him. "If you ever expect to make peace with us, you'd better hope to hell that Carson doesn't die!"

She pondered his words, not taking her dark eyes off him. After a moment, she reached into her bag and retrieved a vial. After making sure it was the right one, she tossed it to him. He caught it with both hands, careful not to fumble. "Give him half a CC every twelve hours. That should be enough."

Without another word, she stepped through the event horizon and left the world behind. As the wormhole closed behind her, Dr. Zelenka scrambled to the steps and punched away at the keys of the computer to dial Atlantis, not having to be told that time was of the essence.

The Stargate reopened and Dr. Wier quickly ushered everyone through, making sure that everyone was accounted for before she stepped through herself. She sighed in a long breath of relief as the shield was raised behind her, narrowly managing to protect them from the resultant blast behind them. They were safe. 


	18. Epilogue

Crinkle, crunch, crunch, crunch; it was the first thing that Carson heard as he slowly woke from the nightmare that had gripped him the last few days. He heard it again; crinkle, crunch, crunch, crunch.

A familiar voice spoke a bit further away. "God, Rodney, didn't your mother ever teach you to chew with your mouth closed?"

As he slowly regained consciousness, he recognized the voice as belonging to Colonel Sheppard. Rodney ignored him as he finished eating the chips and discarded the bag on the tray of food that had been brought for him; crinkle, crunch, crunch, crunch, and one more crinkle.

The feel of cold fingers on his wrist brought him further away from his reverie. As his eyes fluttered open, the sight that greeted him eased his discomfort. He grinned sheepishly as Nurse Whitney Shaw looked up from her watch as she counted the seconds passing and met his eyes. He was spellbound by her smile as a stray lock of curly blond hair fell over her forehead.

"Forget it, Carson," Rodney said with a snort. "She's far too young for you."

Carson sighed and looked away in embarrassment. Nurse Shaw simply smiled and finished her counting as she got the blood pressure monitor ready to use. She finished measuring his blood pressure and he glanced back as she packed up.

"Thank you." He spoke softly with a genuine smile. "You saved my life."

She gave him her heartwarming smile again. "Actually," she said with a faint southern drawl as she motioned toward Rodney, "he saved your life."

"Is that so?" Carson muttered with disdain. The last thing he wanted was to owe Rodney one.

Rodney shot him a cold look, but was too busy taking a bite out of the second half of his turkey sandwich to make a witty retort. An uncomfortable silence permeated the room for a few moments after Nurse Shaw left them to get their rest.

Colonel Sheppard stretched out his shoulder painfully and decided he would be the first to speak up. "So, Carson, you're feeling better, I hope?"

"Oh, aye," he replied wistfully. "Better."

"Well, I'm certainly not feeling better," Rodney complained, feigning bitterness. "Not after you shot me."

Carson rolled his eyes. "Alright, Rodney, I apologize. If it's any consolation for you, at the time I thought you were about to be fed on by a Wraith and was trying to save your life."

Rodney decided it was best not to instigate an argument with Carson in his weakened condition, instead grumbling to himself and taking another big bite from his sandwich. Sheppard didn't really want to get involved in another one of their arguments.

"For a while back there, though, I could've sworn I was back in Scotland." Carson spoke thoughtfully, a look of disturbed confusion crossing his face. It was enough to make Rodney put down the rest of his meal and push it away. "About twenty years ago now, I went hiking with my brother Edward and broke my foot. He stayed with me all night and helped drag me back to the house in the morning. Mum was frantic when she called the doctor. It's one of the reasons I went into medicine. I'm not really sure why I was thinking about it, though. Maybe it was a dream."

"Hmm," Rodney mumbled after a moment. "I was wondering why you called me Edward."

Carson turned his head to look at him strangely. Rodney almost felt bad about his discomfort… almost.

"Will you stop it?" Rodney demanded. "You're giving me that creepy look again."

Rather than try to finagle answers from him, Carson sat back into his pillow. He was starting to feel tired again.

Rodney suddenly felt the need to change the subject. "You know, it's too bad about that ZPM. But I can't help but wonder… What do you suppose the Record Keeper is doing now?"

"With any luck, she's dead." Rodney was shocked into silence by Carson's choice of words. Bitter and hateful weren't words that he would have ever used to describe anything Carson had spoken before. "But we never have that kind of luck. No, I suspect that she is planning to publicly assassinate Kolya as soon as he grabs power on the Genii homeworld."

"That's a disturbing thought," Rodney admitted with some trepidation.

"Aye," Carson affirmed. "And what's even more disturbing is that I think she's smart enough to backward engineer those guns and computers from the Genii. The Lokhen may be a much bigger threat the next time we encounter them."

Rodney settled back into his pillow. He was tired, but the recent conversation left him too stricken to sleep. As many times as they managed to put themselves in harm's way trying to explore the Pegasus galaxy, he mused that it never seemed to get easier. Of course not, he thought. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth exploring.

The End 


End file.
